Choices
by O'God
Summary: Life is hard when you've got four *ahem* synonimus with HEAT boyos totally in love with you. That's the exact problem Liz and Ari fall into when they take a vacation with their Sanq Queen Relena. Gundam+Weiss boyos! {disclaimer: characters not mine}
1. Choices i

ЏИŦİŦŁЄĐ  
  
A small annoying beep had been continuing for the last ten minutes, till Duo figured that unless he answered the damn thing it wouldn't shut up and let him sleep. Not that sleeping inside a gundam was particularly comfortable; it was just that, hey it was *HIS* sleep for Christ's sake. He booted up Deathsycthe's computers, gave the appropriate passwords, and finally located the confounded beeping "priority" message. Once he got the damn thing to shut up, he read that Quatre was having a small get together of gundams and friends for the holidays, which those dumb (well not really dumb in the stupid sense) doctors were giving them off, because OZ had been particularly quiet for a while now. Duo had been half relieved to be given a break from all the sneaking around and attempting to hack, which he had no skill at compared to the *great* Heero Yuy, but missed the idea of being Shinigami and getting to blow things up. Well, considering he was the God of Death, he guessed he never really got a break from being Shinigami, and he could still blow things up.... especially that dumb blond Relena, who seemed to ALWAYS find them. Or Heero, should we say. After grumbling a bit at being woken up by a stupid e-mail, he decided that he should get all cheery and happy about the idea of spending the holidays off with his friends, but… not till morning. He NEEDED his sleep. As he settled back down, squirming a little so the straps were outta the way, and dozed back to sleep, he wondered, 'what other friends...'  
  
Unfortunately for Quatre's priority message it only got about halfway through the first beep before Heero threw himself from the bed to the computer and quickly scanned for any incoming missions. One could swear the message seemed almost sad that it hadn't gotten a chance to "properly" announce itself, as it made a small sighing sound as it shut down while Heero logged in. Heero quickly read what Quatre had written about the holidays, gundams and friends, then wrote simply a two-word reply, shut down his precious laptop, and went back to bed.  
  
Quatre silently rubbed his temple, while a cup of tea sat in front of him, slowly cooling. Sometimes he wished Heero wouldn't be so damned serious about EVERYTHING. The words "Ninmu Kanryou" flashed on the screen in front of Quatre. It wasn't that Heero's seriousness gave Quatre headaches, it was just that the message was so, so, so.... well, Heero. And he had had a very long day trying to persuade his sister to stay on colony L3 to see a doctor about her illness, instead of her coming to earth just to see their long lost cousin and his friends. He had finally won but gotten a major migraine in the process. When Rashid had noticed he had brought him a cup of tea to help. The gesture was undeniably very sweet and caring, but he couldn't seem to get it through anyone's head that he absolutely HATED tea. What was wrong with people? Just because every other Winner was in love with tea, didn't mean he was. Talk about stubborn people.  
  
Just when Quatre decided that he needed to get up to retrieve some badly desired aspirin, his computer beeped. He just blinked. What the hell...? E- mail? As he returned to his seat, he counted on his fingers: 'one, two, three, four, plus me, equals five.' There are only five gundams and he had heard from everyone, Heero being the last. 'Who was e-mailing him? Especially on his private line?' With his curiosity piqued, he opened the up the video e-mail that was beeping at him. Quatre nearly dumped his tea all over the place, as he jumped when Relena's face popped up on the screen and she began to speak, *very loudly*. It took a second for Quatre to come out of his stupor and turn down the volume, by then Relena had finished whatever she had screamed in to the microphone. From what he could tell, there was also quite a bit of static accompanying her voice. 'Great' he thought, 'she messed up a video e-mail, how much more blond can one get?' Obviously, Relena was somewhat challenged in the technology field. Quatre repeated the scratchy message.  
  
"KONICHIWAAAA!!! *fuzzfuzz* HEARD *scratchscritch* YOUR VACATION! *fizzscreech* COMING *tapeblacksout* HEERO?!?! *wobblewobble* --OVE, RELENA!!! *blank*"  
  
Quatre sat dumbfounded, wanting desperately to cry. 'They are gonna kill me!!' Not only was he going to have to hook up and play host to five boys other than the gundams, but Relena was coming and probably bringing friends...like, *gasp*... Dorothy.  
  
Rashid looked up, startled, as he heard a loud sounding shriek echo through the house, followed by resounding thump. 'Really' he thought, 'if that cat is anywhere near my new specialty toupee, I'll hang the confounded critter!' (O.O ........) 


	2. Choices ii

He could hear the soft resounding echo of the doorbell, as he waited at the front door of one of Quatre's mansions. Beside him stood Wufei, who was impatiently counting each second it took before someone came to the door. Both pilots froze as they heard pounding thuds growing louder through the door. Then the door suddenly flew open, and Dou found himself screaming "KONICHIWAAA!!", at the top of his lungs, to no one. Duo stopped and blinked, and with a look of serious puzzlement looked around the front porch.  
  
"Damn, I could have sworn I heard the doorbell... HEY! Why are you on the ground?"  
  
"MAXWELL!!!!"  
  
"*gulp* Wu,.. Wu-fe,... um, Wu-fei??"  
  
"DIE MAXWELL!!!!"  
  
"Eep!"  
  
Trowa gingerly picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off as Quatre came to the door. They both turned to watch Duo, who still had the ability to yell absurd comments at the red-faced Wufei who was chasing him around wildly waving his sword in the air, who was also screaming threats of braid-chopping, run frantically around the yard. Both sweat-dropped at their friends running around like headless chickens. They turned again when they noticed a figure, forever wearing a green tank top and black biker shorts, walk up the pathway. They seemed to not be the only ones to notice as Duo ran around Heero shouting "KONICHIWAAA!!!" with the ever-pursuing Wufei close behind.  
  
"MAXWELL!!!DIE!!!" rang out through the yard.  
  
The stand off came when Duo hid behind the stoic biker-shorts boy, and Wufei facing Heero, pointing his sword and ranting about the injustice of a boy named Duo Maxwell. Duo took off like lightning when Heero began walking again, ignoring both his fellow pilots and showing no sign of staying to help the self-proclaimed God of Death. Wufei not wanting to waste his chance at revenge quickly followed in pursuit of the braided baka.  
  
Just before Heero reached the front door, where Quatre and Trowa watched quietly, a loud squeal of tires announced their *uninvited* guest. All of the gundam pilots froze and then cringed, except for maybe Trowa cuz he never does anything like that, as the tire squeals were followed by an even less appealing screech.  
  
"HEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRROOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Before Heero had the chance to pull out his gun and shoot the blond atrocity that bounced down the walkway, she had already latched onto him, and was still screeching his name.  
  
"HEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRROOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Heero began shake with the need to desperately and permanently hurt Relena Peacecraft. If she weren't so damned useful to helping the ideas of peace end this war, he would, well, lets just say she would have died a long time ago.  
  
As the boys watched Heero struggling to not kill the irritating blonde attached like a leech to his arms and wailing like a dying cow, they failed to notice the two other people who had accompanied Relena. Duo and Wufei, being out on the front lawn, were the first ones to notice, as a flash of blue and gray ran past them and up the front steps. Within a few seconds, both Quatre and Trowa noticed as well. Both thoroughly occupied, Relena and Heero failed to do so. So, the other four watched stupidly as the short, black-haired girl ran up the two front steps, jumped to catch a football that seemed to appear from the heavens, and then yell triumphantly, "I got it!", …right before tripping on the third, and last step, and emitting a small "Eep!" As she lost her footing, she happened to fall directly on top of a very unfortunate (maybe not) Relena Peacecraft who was still clinging to a miserable Heero Yuy. As it turned out, Heero wound up on his butt about two feet away from Relena who was currently in a state of eating concrete. Duo and Wufei were desperately trying to control their laughter, Quatre looked a little worried about the whole situation, and Trowa had a light of amusement in his eye. The girl found herself on top of Relena, with the football in hand, but seemed to be ignorant of that fact as she shook her head and then yelled indignantly,  
  
"WHAT KINDA PASS WAS THAT!?!"  
  
Another cry of an indignant nature came from the area of Relena's pink limo. All the boys forgot their previous concerns to watch this unexpected turn of events.  
  
"DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO THROW A FOOTBALL!?!"  
  
Right about now the first, black-haired girl picked herself up and stalked down the pathway in the direction of the limo.  
  
"OF COURSE I DO!! YOU CAUGHT IT DIDN'T YOU!?!"  
  
Mimicking the other's movements, the other, slightly taller, girl stalked with as much indigence toward the opposing girl.  
  
"OF COURSE I CAUGHT IT!! BUT ONLY AFTER FALLING OVER MISS RELEN......"  
  
By now both were face to face, and had currently frozen and turned quite pale. Before, either could turn to see if their superior was okay, a loud piercing wail was let forth.  
  
"ITAI!!! ITAI!!! ITAI!!! ITAI!!! ITAI!!! ITAI!!! ITAI!!! ITAI!!! ITAI!!! ITAI!!!"  
  
Both girls looked around frantically, as if to signify it wasn't them. But both managed to cringe as Relena screamed their names.  
  
"LIZ!!! ARIANA!!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU BOTH!!!"  
  
The now silent girls let their gaze fall to the ground in a kind of sheepish defeat. However, Relena wasn't through with them just yet.  
  
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?!"  
  
"Um,... football, heheh," one girl managed to choke out. To emphasize her point she threw the leather pigskin into the air to let it fall easily into her hands again.  
  
"WHAT IN THE HELL!?! FOOTBALL!?! *grrrr* I'M GONNA..... *grumble* WHY YOU...."  
  
Suddenly Relena's eyes flashed dangerously.  
  
"*sputter* ELIZABETH TONNA *growl* WHAT ARE YOU WEARING!?!"  
  
The girl in question shyly looked down at her clothing. Finding nothing wrong with her blue sports shorts and gray soccer jersey, looked back up at her superior with an innocently puzzled look.  
  
"WHERE IS YOUR UNIFORM!?!"  
  
The girl gave a small defeated look and decidedly gave up, so her friend spoke up for her.  
  
"Well, we ARE on vacation Miss Relena."  
  
"ARIANA *sputter* WHAT WERE YOU DOING THROWING A FOOTBALL!?!"  
  
"Hey! I was just... um... you know... uh..... I was..."  
  
Seeing a chance to repay her friend, the sporty black-haired girl took her turn to speak.  
  
"Well, we were in that car for a REALLY long time, Miss Relena. And you were in such a hurry to find that Heero guy and didn't seem to want to talk about much other than that...*babblebabble* and we kinda got bored, so we wanted to play something when we got outta the car. And since I won the bet, I chose football. And it was agreed that Ariana would throw the foot—"  
  
"ENOUGH!!! THAT'S ALL I NEED TO HEAR!!! BOTH OF YOU ARE GOING BACK HOME!! NOW!! WHAT THE…!?! WHERE'S PAGAN!?!"  
  
Instantly both girls cried out in unison about how unfair it was to make them stay at the dorms for vacation and how they had beaten Relena fair and square at ... something.  
  
As Relena tried to get up, she found that she must have twisted or sprained her ankle when Liz fell on her, when she took a sudden trip back to eating concrete.  
  
Quatre rushed to the Queen of the World's side to see if she was all right. As he studied her ankle, he quietly whispered, "Maybe they can stay, it really isn't fair to send them home like this. I'm sure they'll get along just fine." Wufei's snicker and comment, "Hn. Weak. *snort* Women," could be heard across the front yard.  
  
He barely had time to step back before his ears were blasted out before he had a furiously shouting girl in his face.  
  
"WOMEN ARE NOT WEAK!! WOMEN RULE THIS WORLD YOU SMALL-MINDED-MALE- CHAUVANTIST!! I BET YOU..."  
  
Taking in the scene, Quatre and Relena exchanged weary and hopeless looks. At this point Liz was desperately trying to hold Ariana at bay by grabbing the back of her dress and digging her heels into the ground.  
  
"BET YOU LIZ COULD TAKE YOU DOWN BUDDY!!! HOW WOULD YOU LIKE THAT!?! BEATEN BY A GIRL!!! HA!!! SHE'S BETTER AT SOCCER, BASKETBALL, BASEBALL, VOLLEYBALL, TENNIS, SWIMMING, DIVING, BADMINTON…."  
  
Liz just rolled her eyes and focused on keeping Ariana safely away from Wufei, who was looking a little wind blown, as Ariana's fists flew in crazed circles and shouted at the top of her lungs.  
  
"….KARATE, FENCING, TAI-KWON-DO, AND EVERYTHING ELSE TOO!!! SHE CAN BEAT YOU OVER THE HEAD WITH A FRYING PAN JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT!!! Uh….eh….! Oh no!!!"  
  
1  
  
Just as suddenly as the violent outrage against Wufei, Ariana sputtered a few incoherent words, popped into chibi mode, throwing Liz off balance, and ran in circles toward the limo. Propping herself up on her elbows, Liz watched, and so did everyone else, as Ariana's mini form basically turned the whole limo inside-out and upside down looking for god-knows-what. At the site, Duo let out a soft whistle and Relena let out an exasperated sigh, as the rest just continued to stare. After about two minutes of frantic searching, (and destroying the limo) Ariana came back in normal form and collapsed to her knees next to Liz and began sobbing loud enough for people on L5 to hear her.  
  
"I *sob* left *sob* my *sob* special *sob* FUDGE! *sob* recipe *sob* at *sob* home *WAIL*!!!"  
  
"Um, Ariana…."  
  
"**W A I L**"  
  
"You gave it to me, remember? For safe-keeping…?"  
  
"Really? *sniffle*"  
  
"Uh huh"  
  
"YIPPEE!!!"  
  
Ariana bounced up, grabbed Liz's hand and basically dragged her over to where Quatre sat next to Relena. She had a huge smile across her face.  
  
"Hi! Um, Mr. Um… HOST!!" Quatre winced. "Do you, um, think we could, um, use your kitchen for a while?"  
  
"Uh, sure. I don't see why not."  
  
"YIPPEE!"  
  
Dragging Liz behind her, the excited girl raced into the house in search of the kitchen. Before they were out of hearing range, Liz's loud yell could be heard.  
  
"Thanks for letting us stay Miss Relena!"  
  
When the two girls were finally gone, and everyone looking in their wake, Relena muttered something about crazy teenagers. Remembering her state of ankle-twisted-ness, Relena looked up at Heero with large puppy-dog eyes and began to plead. In the distance, Duo could be seen making the gesture of "gag-me".  
  
"Heero could you-"  
  
"No."  
  
"But!"  
  
"No!"  
  
With that Heero spun around and stalked into the house in search of his room. Quatre turned to help Relena, but found that in her determined-love- obsessed state had gotten up all ready and was prepared to pursue Heero. Quickly, Quatre and Trowa grabbed Relena before she fell or did anything stupid, such as chase after fuming Heero, and dragged her off toward her suite.  
  
Being the only ones left, Duo and Wufei looked on without expression. When Wufei gave him a questioning glance, Duo gave a light shrug in response and then said,  
  
"They must be the other friends." 


	3. Choices iii

She looked down doubtfully at the small pot in front of her containing some icky-looking brownish goop. Then she wailed.  
  
"ARIANA!!!"  
  
Ariana, the girl with short, mousy brown hair, turned from her position where she was cleaning and cutting strawberries and silently prayed.  
  
"Please God save my fudge." And then, "How the hell did she burn it!?! The stove wasn't even on!! All she had to do was twirl a little wooden stick around!!" Then prayed again, "Heaven help my fudge."  
  
"ARIANA!!!"  
  
Another distressed wail echoed through the kitchen. Hastily Ariana made her way over to Liz, who looked like she wanted to cry. Ariana worriedly looked over the contents of the pot; she found nothing burnt and everything was actually quite all right. She looked back up at a water-eyed Liz, who was scanning the kitchen for… something?  
  
"What's wrong with it?"  
  
Liz turned back to look at the pot once more, and managed to look even more upset.  
  
"Um, it's just that, it's so um, you know, not right-looking."  
  
"Not right-looking?"  
  
"Its just that it looks so, so, so ucky. It looks like, well, it, um, looks like it, uh, like it needs something!" Liz finished brightly.  
  
Ariana let out a breath that sounded quite a lot like a "no!" as Liz hurried off toward the refrigerator. Ariana then let out a louder,  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"  
  
Liz looked up from what she was carrying back over to the counter.  
  
"But? I thought you were supposed to put mushrooms in the barbecue sauce that went on the steak?"  
  
She held up a basket of mushrooms and plate of steak to emphasize her points.  
  
With a moist "plop", the steak, followed by the plate and basket of mushrooms, hit the floor as Liz took off and ran from Ariana's red face and look of rage.  
  
"GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN!!!"  
  
As Ariana returned to her counter, where her strawberries sat waiting to be cleaned and cut, she grumbled to herself,  
  
"I can't believe she thought my fudge was barbecue sauce! Fudge looks nothing like barbecue sauce! *Hmph* steak and mushrooms my butt. *Grumble* dumb should-be-blonde *growl*….."  
  
In a stupor of awe, Liz wandered through the gigantic house, staring at all the paintings, collectibles, and furniture. She wandered up a huge staircase that led to the second floor. When she reached the top of the magnificent stairs, she debated on which direction to take. After a quick run through of "Eenie-Meanie-Minie-Moe" she began exploring down the right corridor. As she walked, she heard the monotonous clacking of someone typing coming from one of the rooms up ahead on her left. Peeking into the room, she noted the figure hunched in front of a laptop that was emitting an eerie greenish glow. She remembered the boy; he was the one she knocked over when she went tumbling into Relena. The one with funny black biker shorts and really messy hair. Discreetly, she tiptoed into the room and over to the desk to see what he was typing so hurriedly.  
  
"Wow!" she thought, "He's a really fast typer. Certainly a case of Speedy Gonzales fingers."  
  
She looked on for a moment, till she realized that with the screen scrolling at such a fast pace she couldn't read a damned thing. She let out her amazement in a small sigh.  
  
Heero whirled around and succeeded in shoving his gun right into her stomach. A small whoosh of air brushed across Heero's face, as she let out a tiny "oof" before buckling over onto the floor. Heero just sat there and blinked in disbelief. Meanwhile, Liz had managed to regain her breath, and a sense of trying to get-the-hell-outta-there. She picked herself up, looked straight into Heero's now unblinking wide eyes, glared and promptly punched him in the arm, then ran out of the room with impossible speed. A moment later, she stuck her head back into the doorframe to scrunch up her face and stick her tongue out at him, and then to disappear again.  
  
Heero remained still for some moments, before a small and rare smile spread across his face. Regaining a sense of himself, he quickly wiped it off. He growled at himself for letting a girl, whose name he was not ever sure of, get him to show emotion, despite how small. Yet he remained watching the door for a time, just to see if she would come back. As he watched, his mind began to wander.  
  
'Well, she definitely has spunk.' He agreed on that point.  
  
'And, she was kinda cute, too.' A part of his mind stated.  
  
He became irritated at that thought. But before he turned away from the door, his hand unconsciously and almost shyly, touched the spot where she had hit him. She had hit him. Hit *him*.  
  
'Well, You did hit her first, baka.' His mind retorted. He growled, and looked down at the offending item that lay limply within his hand on his lap. He growled again. 'Why hadn't he heard her till she was right next to him!?!' Heero growled, yet again, and chose to ignore that fact and returned to his work. Then another thought hit him. 'What if she… Had she read any of his private information?' Well he would just have to get it out of her later. He smiled wickedly at the thought. 


	4. Choices iv

After successfully drugging Relena to sleep (its only aspirin! Don't freak!), Quatre was feeling a little weary. He thought of the events that had occurred this morning. Suddenly he remembered that he had given up his kitchen to the two "wild" girls Relena had ranted about. Feeling a little queasy, and like he was about lose his nice kitchen in a grand-scale explosion any second now, Quatre scurried off toward the kitchen.  
  
A moment later, Quatre peeked in the door leading to the kitchens. Sighing in relief that it was still there, and not a charred pit with a blown out ceiling, he paused to watch the girl wearing a cherry-print sundress, which was covered in flour and other powdery substances, pound a lump of dough hard enough to hurt. He watched for a moment or two longer, before quietly knocking on the doorframe to announce his presence. She looked up from her vigorous kneading, and smiled in return to his open and welcoming grin.  
  
"Come on in," was all she said, before turning back to her dough.  
  
He walked over to the counter, and watched her, up close this time, mash the sticky mound, then stretch it out, and roll it back up, then pound it again.  
  
"What are you making?" he inquired.  
  
"A pie," was all she said in return.  
  
He smiled when she stuck out her tongue, while obviously concentrating very hard on her pie making.  
  
"Would you like my help?"  
  
She looked up suddenly, then looked as though she was pondering the idea. Suddenly, she smiled and simply nodded.  
  
"I would like that."  
  
He nodded in return, and looked around as if to find something to do. He went to the sink to wash his hands and roll up his sleeves, after she had pointed out that there were still some strawberries and other assorted fruits that needed to be cleaned and cut. This time, it was her watching him, as he thoroughly washed and sliced up the fruits. As he began to hum a small tune, she turned back to her dough, smiling. A while later, he had finished his chore, and was currently looking for another way to help out. After taking some instructions, he went over to check the oven.  
  
"Is 375° ok?"  
  
"That's great!"  
  
Quatre closed the oven back up, and walked over to the cabinets, in search of a pie pan. Finding one, he brought it and the basket of diced fruits, over to where Ariana was currently rolling out the mashed dough. Then he helped her lift the crust into the pie pan. Both sneezed, then laughed as a billowy cloud of flour covered everything, after she patted down the crust.  
  
"Sorry about that," she said as she tried to swat away some of the flour that had collected on Quatre's purple vest.  
  
"It's no problem," he said and just shrugged off the now white vest.  
  
He then began to place the fruits into the pie shell they had made, while she stirred the glaze.  
  
"Um, sorry, but I must of never, um, caught your name." she asked shyly.  
  
"It's Quatre. Quatre Rebarbra Winner."  
  
"Oh! You're the one Miss Dorothy talks about!"  
  
Quatre looked a little queasy. "Uh, yes, I guess so." She smiled.  
  
"I take it that you're not so fond of Miss Dorothy."  
  
Quatre began to look uneasy and flustered.  
  
"Oh! No! It's nothing like that, I mean it's just that… oh, no, well I um, don't really, you know, uh.."  
  
"It's okay. Not many people like her," she said matter-o-factly.  
  
"Oh no! It's not that I hate her… it's just that I don't um, like her…" he stated, as he pulled off an even bigger flustered blush.  
  
"You're intimidated by her, aren't you?"  
  
"NO!" he yelled indignantly, "She's just, well, she's very…" Quatre flushed.  
  
"Intimidating?" smirked Ariana.  
  
"No. Just quite…" he stuttered, still not finding the right words.  
  
"Determined?" she questioned mockingly.  
  
"Yes, that's it. Determined." He let out a long breathy sigh, finally ending his long run of stupidity.  
  
"That's just another way of saying intimidating." Ariana teased.  
  
Quatre blushed, ever so cutely, again. He laughed, then admitted,  
  
"Yes I guess, I guess, it is."  
  
Ariana smiled triumphantly. Then, quickly glazing up the pie, and the two began to make the top layer of the pie. After finishing crimping all the edges, together they carried the pie over the oven. When the pie had made it safely into the oven and the timer had been set, Ariana leaned up against the counter and looked at Quatre with a small questioning smile.  
  
"So those rumors about you and Miss Dorothy…?"  
  
Quatre sputtered and turned bright red, but before he could deny the utterly outrageous ideas that Dorothy must have said about them, Ariana cut him off, laughingly.  
  
"Don't worry, Quatre. She hasn't said anything to anyone about the two of you. Frankly, she thinks that she's the only one who knows about her obvious crush-crush for you."  
  
Quatre's shoulders sagged with a relieved sigh. Then he looked back up at her.  
  
"You know, I still don't know your name."  
  
Ariana blushed, and quickly stated,  
  
"Ariana. Ariana Gylgayton if you want to get technical." 


	5. Choices v

Grumbling to herself and rubbing her bruised stomach, Liz slowly wandered past the remaining doors. She found most of them either closed or empty. Sighing, Liz searched for back staircase or something of the sort. She *desperately* hoped she could find one, because she *desperately* did not want to walk past Mr. Gun-Shoving-Spandex-Boy's room, again. When she was just about to give up, and was contemplating on whether to sprint or simply run past psycho-boy's doorway, she noticed a funny crease in the green and white striped wallpaper, right in front of a small iron table with a flowered vase on it. Liz walked up closer, to see a little better, and noted that the little Parisian style iron table was very nicely nailed to the wall. Smirking, she held the vase, which she gave up as she found that it was also nailed down, as she gently pulled on the table. Other than emitting a small "creek", the secret door was quite silent. Liz smiled at her newfound adventure. Quietly she pulled the swinging wall closed behind her. She turned into the musty darkness, waiting for her eyes to adjust. Fortunately for her, the passage was built at the end of the house, rather than in the middle, so it had windows to illuminate the dim shadows. As she stood there, taking in the dust-covered spiraling stairway ahead of her, she attempted to swat away the filthy air that surrounded her. After calming down from the sneezing fit that had ensued, she giggled. 'Man,' she thought, 'Ariana would be pale as the ghost she had thought she had seen by now.' Still snickering to herself, she started to make her way down the stairs. At each window, which seemed to be but a slit in the wall, she paused to look outside, but found that often she couldn't see much. She reached a larger opening, and stopped to stare in appreciation at the massive garden that consumed the back of Quatre's estate. Liz uttered a soft 'Wow…' before turning to continue. She only paused a few more times, before reaching the ground floor. With a small-disappointed sigh, she acknowledged that her venture was over. 'It was so short-lived though!' her exploratory conscious whined. Prior to using the dirt-swathed door to exit, she looked around and back up the hall, with a vicious pout across her face, as if demanding the hallway give her another secret passageway to explore. With one last sigh, she finally accepted the end, and silently snuck out the back door. Being more concerned with not making any noise, Liz failed to observe the small ledge she was just about to fall off. She noted with curiosity that the outside of the musty door looked a lot like the outside of a house, right before she fell off the terrace above the front steps. Her startled cry could be heard across the entire manor.  
  
Quatre and Ariana both looked up from the cookie sheet they were presently filling with chocolate chip cookies, startled. They exchanged worried glances when they heard nothing preceding the resounding shriek. Together they ran off toward the front porch, after shortly stopping at the sink to wash off all the sticky and powdery residue that had collected on their fingers and hands.  
  
Duo barely made it out of the room without hurting himself or making an unbelievable mess, since he had decided to raid Quatre's snack pantry and then lay out all the boxes of cookies and bags of chips across the living room floor. Not only did he have to be wary of the Cheez-It mines, he nearly toppled over himself by tangling himself in the Nintendo cables. When he finally made it out of the chaotic room, he praised the luck of Shinigami, just before colliding with Heero, who had shot out of his room, only after shutting down and locking his prized laptop. Both hurriedly picked themselves up, and ran off, their guns in hand.  
  
Trowa had nearly fallen off the tightrope, when he heard her yell. He had been practicing his tightrope performance on an old stretched out clothesline in Quatre's extensive backyard. Gracefully, he flipped himself off the high platform, and began to run around the side of the house toward the front terrace.  
  
Wufei muttered something about accident-prone women, before picking himself out of the lotus position. 'Great' he thought. 'I only get about 20 minutes of meditation before one of those *women* screams down the house again! Oh, the injustice.' He ran out of his room, choosing to ignore the fact that he had been the slightest bit worried for the poor girl who had gotten herself in trouble yet again. 'Women = Weak' he tried to remind himself, as he ran to the rescue of the loud girl.  
  
Relena, being in somewhat of a drugged state, didn't even register Liz's scream, as she continued to dream of her frowning "lover" in a world of dancing daffodils and singing hamsters. (Ok, so maybe they gave her something a little stronger than Advil.) 


	6. choices vi

'Damn, what's with me and stairs today!?' Liz growled to herself as she attempted to sit up and open her eyes. Only she found that not only was she restricted from the movement, but that her eyes were in fact open already. 'What the…?' was all she could comprehend as she groped around to find her balance and the ground.  
  
Suddenly, someone grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her upright. Liz let out an "Eep!" and blushed as she realized that somehow she had fallen on top of some poor individual, and then had managed to bring another down on top of her. 'No wonder I couldn't see' she reflected, as she looked, dazed, at the man's dark purple shirt. She turned to see whom she was currently sitting on, but found that her head wouldn't turn far enough to see past her upraised arm. Then, she curiously looked up at her arm, wondering why it was above her head. After noticing the black-gloved hand that was presently wrapped gently around her wrist, her eyes followed the long arm to the adjoining body, and then to the worried eyes of a very startled messy-haired boy. 'Wow, another one' was the only thing that seemed to penetrate her fogged brain. With incredibly bad timing, the person she was on, decided to try to sit up, sending her face first into the concerned brunette. Wide-eyed, Liz found herself nose to nose with the boy and was at this time breathing the exact air he seemed to have exhaled. During the event of being thrown forward, Liz's arm had fallen from above her head, when her breathing partner had let go of it, to instead wrap his arms around her. So now, not only were they sharing breaths but they were also both inhabiting the same personal space. The person underneath their personal space groaned, then promptly turned over onto his stomach, lifted himself up a little, and proceeded to puke his guts out. Liz turned away from their closeness, when she felt the body beneath her begin to shake. She watched the young boy as he threw up all over the pathway, totally stuck on why he looked so damned familiar. Having caught a glimpse of him before he rolled over, she remembered seeing a heart-shaped face and wheaty- golden colored hair before, from somewhere. Liz was so preoccupied; she hadn't noticed when the taller brunette pulled her up to a standing position, without ever letting go of his hold on her waist. She did however, blink several times, rapidly, when an older man with a whole lot of really long brown hair, bent down to hold the puking-boy's hair out of his face, and comfort him. It surprised her that she hadn't detected him before. Looking up in search of anyone else she had missed, Liz became aware of two very violet, very violent eyes watching her. Fear tore through her, as she took in the man's red hair, funny bangs, long ominous trench- coat, and the gloved hands, one of which was gripping the end of a sheathed sword dangerously. Tearing her eyes away from the weapon, he hadn't cared to hide, she looked shyly back up into his eyes, ready to plead forgiveness. However, she realized that it wasn't at her that he was glowering, but past her, over her right shoulder to be exact. How appropriate, that Quatre chose that very moment to clear his throat, announcing the presence of others. Whirling her head around, Liz saw both Quatre and Ariana close by, but out of arms length, covered in flour and looking somewhat wet, then Duo and Heero on the porch looking wary, worried and surprised, both with guns in hand, and Trowa off to the left of the house, seeming to have appeared from the bushes, as some stray leaves clung to his sweater. With his sword pointed out challengingly, glinting in the sunlight, Wufei was off toward the right, looking like he would gladly accept a fight with the impassive red-head, if only to have the chance to exert some of his anger. Though, Wufei was quite a sight, he wasn't what worried Liz the most. It was Ariana, who had become stiff and was stooping her shoulders forward, a telltale sign of her storms of rage. Liz gulped. 'Dear lord…' however, her prayer was never heard because it was never completed as she lost all sense of words, when she looked at Ariana's eyes. They were nearly black with hatred, and staring right at their personal space. Quickly, Liz separated herself, when she realized that they were still holding each other, from the messy-haired brunette, looking as though she was reacting to a hot plate or something unpleasant to touch. He gave her a small hurt glance, before letting his hands fall to his sides.  
  
"WHAT WERE YOU DOING TO HER!?!"  
  
Ok, well Ariana wasn't necessarily mad, well not to begin with. At first, when she had run out there and seen her friend being helped up off the ground, actually another person, she was relieved that she was all right. Then, she had been slightly amused at the idea that only Liz could manage to topple over two guys at the same time, and even make one give up his lunch, messy style. But then the rage hit her, like a fist of stone, at the indecency of that male-pig, who was acting all gentlemen-like by helping her up, but took the opportunity to put his hands all over her. And it only added to the fury, that Liz just stood there, and acted like it was the most natural thing in the world to let a stranger grope you in public. Oh! The Injustice!  
  
Wufei was the only other who felt extreme anger at the situation. He didn't really care about the guy holding Liz, but if the dude didn't get his hands off her soon, he would. What made him more or less furious, was the fact that these not-even-OZ-soldiers had infiltrated their hideout, and interrupted their group time off, which said a whole lot more than he would ever like to admit about the gundams being his friends, but he wasn't really paying enough attention to catch it. Right now, he was dangerously close to taking on that aloof redhead.  
  
The brunette, who had been holding Liz, began to stutter, but was cut off from whatever he was about to say, as the older man with all the hair, stood up and looked at Ariana coolly.  
  
"Calm yourself, little one. Ken was only trying to help your friend."  
  
Ariana was about keep on storming, when Liz suddenly cut her off.  
  
"Don't worry Ari, I'm ok. Nothing happened, besides I fell on them."  
  
"But that doesn't give him any right to…"  
  
"Like I said, nothing happened. Anyway if it had, I would have been the first to kill him."  
  
Liz smiled sweetly at her friend, and Ken gave her a startled glance. Such words with such a smile, just wasn't right. 


	7. Choices vii

Ariana calmed down a little, knowing her friend was serious but also trying to lighten the mood. She smiled in return, then laughed when she realized what comedy must have occurred before they had gotten there.  
  
"So Liz," she snickered, "how exactly did you come to fall on them?"  
  
Liz turned bright red, then mumbled something incoherently.  
  
"What was that?" Ariana questioned innocently, with the tone of mocking playfulness in her voice.  
  
"I said I don't know." Liz mumbled again, only this time loud enough for others to hear.  
  
Ariana gave her a puzzled look, and then demanded,  
  
"What do you mean you don't know!?!"  
  
"I mean I don't know!!" Liz growled back.  
  
"She just kinda fell on us." Ken shrugged.  
  
"She just kinda fell on you!?! What do you mean, as in falling like tripping?" Ariana declared.  
  
"No, more as in she fell on us." groaned the poor boy, who was still on the ground, and had now finished throwing up his internal organs.  
  
"Well where did she fall from!?!" Duo exclaimed wildly.  
  
"Probably the roof." Trowa reasoned.  
  
Everyone turned to stare at him, surprise written across their faces. First off the idea of her falling off the roof was ridiculous, and secondly, this was the first time the girls or anyone else for that matter, had heard him say anything. Trowa just stared back, unmoved.  
  
"BUT what was she could she have possibly been doing on the roof!?!" Ariana and Duo cried out in unison.  
  
Accordingly, everyone then turned to a furiously blushing Liz. She blinked at them angrily, then shouted,  
  
"What!?!"  
  
"What were you doing on the roof?" Heero calmly repeated.  
  
Liz blinked, blushed, then pouted.  
  
"I didn't know I was on the roof." she whispered sheepishly.  
  
"What do you mean, you didn't know you were on the roof!?!" Wufei cried huffily.  
  
"In other words, HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW YOU WERE ON THE ROOF!?!" Ariana followed, with an even huffier sounding cry.  
  
Everybody looked at a flustered Liz expectantly; while she just blinked back, at a loss for words.  
  
Quatre cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention, then spoke without taking his eyes off Liz.  
  
"When you're not sure of where you're going, or what's on the other side of the door."  
  
That got Quatre a lot of funny puzzled looks, or imperceivable stares (*coughcough* Aya, Marron, Heero, and Trowa).  
  
"What's that supposed to mean!?!" Duo shouted.  
  
"Well, lets just say Liz has an amazing sense of adventure, and bring that poor boy inside to one of the bathrooms."  
  
Within the next half an hour, they all managed to carry the sick boy inside, only to watch him start puking again once they reached the nearest bathroom; and with all the running around trying to find some Pepto-Bismol, ice packs, towels, and some breath-mints, the time had flown by. In the end, they had put him in one of the guestrooms on the second floor, to rest and recuperate. Quatre had given him some Advil, then shooed everyone out of the room, asking them to all go to the living room to wait for him. He and the sick boy had been in the room talking for the last 10 minutes. Which was fortunate for everyone else, as they found the living room a complete chaotic mess left by Duo, and were ordered to clean it up by a grouchy maid. Once they had finished and all settled in to the scattered couches and chairs, Quatre had returned from his chat. He looked at the group of people, minus a drugged Relena and an ill cousin, who were spending the next week or so with him on vacation, studying each one individually. He smiled reassuringly at the three new men who stood off to the side.  
  
"Omi should be all right. He said he gets motion sickness occasionally, and that he's still recovering from a cold, but he should be fine by tomorrow morning."  
  
Ken muttered a small thank you, while Marron nodded in acknowledgement, and Aya just sat there, glaring around the room. Quatre looked a little surprised at the redhead's hostility, but decided he was no worse than Heero. He continued.  
  
"Sorry, that the chance has not arisen for me to properly introduce myself and my friends. My name is Quatre Rebarbra Winner and this is my home. As my guests, I welcome you to my home." he gestured toward the three boys on one side of the room sitting around an arrangement of chairs, and then to the two girls who sat on the couch with Duo and Heero, while Trowa and Wufei stood around it. It seemed as though Ariana's friend had demanded that she not sit next to Heero and was actually so close to the opposite end of the couch, she looked as though she was about to take another fall. This would have been unfortunate, for the tumble would have thrown her right into Trowa, who was currently leaning against the arm of the couch, adding to her record of people she had crashed into today.  
  
"Now that you know my name, I would be delighted to get to know…"  
  
"LET'S PLAY THE NAME GAME!!" Duo shouted with way too much enthusiasm. Before, anyone could protest, Duo ran around the room shooing everyone into a circle around the center of the room.  
  
"OK!! I'll start!!… wait… does everyone know how to play?" all Duo received was silence and blank stares.  
  
"Ok… well, first you say your name, and then you have to say a word that describes you and starts with the first letter of your name." He sighed, and continued, "Ok, see, it's fun. I'll start."  
  
Everyone settled into their seats, figuring that the annoying braided boy wouldn't give up on his idea of fun with names. So they got comfortable, and waited for him to begin.  
  
"I'm Duo, and, I… um… DEATH!!!"  
  
The three older boys blinked at his bold statement, while the two girls began scanning the room frantically for a quick route of escape.  
  
"Duo…" Heero growled.  
  
"What!?!" Duo blinked innocently, "I am the great Shinigami, God of DEATH, so death was the perfect word!"  
  
The gundams, minus an idiotic Duo, sweatdropped, as the others looked at Duo dubiously.  
  
Quatre, who sat to the right of Duo, looked around, before asking, "Should I go next?"  
  
"Nah, man!" Duo replied enthusiastically, "Everybody already knows your name, you don't have to go again!"  
  
Quatre let out a relieve sigh, then both he and Duo looked to his right for the next person to go, Heero. Heero just blinked back. Both boys prepared to fight him on the subject of participation, but surprisingly Heero gave in before they could, and began talking, though it was short.  
  
"Heero. Hacker." He had obviously put a lot of thought into that comment.  
  
"Well that was unexpected." Duo replied sarcastically. Heero just glared at him.  
  
Next in the circle, was Ariana, who didn't seem very happy to be sitting next to Heero anymore. She had thought he was kinda cute, even though Liz had claimed he was psychotic and brutal, but now she wasn't so sure.  
  
"I'm, um, Ariana, and" she continued with growing confidence, "I'm amazing." She looked around proudly.  
  
A mumbled "more like absent-minded" comment came from Liz's side of the circle.  
  
Ariana blushed furiously, "What was that!?!" she all but yelled at Liz, who was too busy rolling around on the floor, to respond.  
  
Enraged, Ariana pointed to the helplessly laughing girl across the circle, and stated, "That's Liz," she growled, "and she's a lame, lazy lutz!!"  
  
"Is lutz a word?" Duo looked around questioningly. Everyone just shrugged.  
  
Liz was too occupied holding her aching ribs and trying to get her breath back, which turned out that it would have been better if she hadn't used it.  
  
"Asexual" was all she said, but it had the curious effect of turning Ariana's cheeks bright red, and causing her to turn on her teasing friend. Liz didn't seem too bothered by the fact that Ariana was beating her wrathfully with one of the pillows from the couch, as she continued to roll around on the floor in a fit of giggles.  
  
All the boys were either laughing openly at the sight the pair made, or trying to hide smiles, or to desperately not smile at all.  
  
After thoroughly beating Liz with the cushion, Ariana sat back down in her seat, placed the pillow in her lap, hugging it while pouting, and then glared at the person to her right, as if demanding they continue. Across the circle, Liz had calmed down a little, but was too dazed from the pain of her ribs to really notice who went next, or when Ariana threw pouting glares at her. They both failed to notice everyone else's amused smiles, or almost smiles.  
  
Trowa cleared his throat, then resumed the game. "Trowa……taciturn."  
  
"Uh, what does that mean?" Duo whispered to Wufei, who responded, "Trowa". The braided pilot gave him a confused glance, and was promptly turning to ask Quatre, when Wufei hit him with a pillow. Duo whirled around, nearly decapitating both Wufei and Quatre with his braid. But before he could open his big mouth, Wufei stopped him. "Shut up, let's finish the game." Duo gave him a pouty hurt look, but was quiet.  
  
Aya just glared daggers at everyone when they turned to him expectedly. Ken gave him a small nudge to get him going, but he just turned and glared at him instead. After a comment from Heero on the fact that his participation wouldn't kill anyone, including him, Aya seemed to reluctantly agree. (Everything with him is 'seemingly' because with impassive guys like him you just never know!)  
  
"Aya," he snarled, "Abyssian." He seemed to be proud to have thought of that. No one could guess why.  
  
"You do know that that is a cat, you know?" Duo added curiously.  
  
If Aya had been the type to sweatdrop and facevault, he would have, but instead he just glared at the unknowing Duo. Duo blinked back innocently, obviously waiting for an answer, and just as obviously, Aya didn't give one. The rest of group exchanged confused looks, but decided that it was better to just continue, and not induce his wrath.  
  
"My name is, uh, Ken and I guess my word would be kind." Ken smiled shyly.  
  
"Or klutz." Aya muttered under his breath. Ken ignored him. The others snickered a little, and Ariana looked accusingly at Liz, who just smiled and shrugged her shoulders at her still fuming companion.  
  
"Shall I continue?" The longhaired man to Ken's right.  
  
"YES! Please." Ariana smiled at the gorgeous bishounen across the circle. Liz gave her a startled glance.  
  
He just smiled back at Ariana and continued the Name Game.  
  
"You may call me Marron, and the word to describe me appropriately would be… Mage."  
  
Everyone just kind of blinked at him.  
  
"Now what's THAT supposed to mean!?!" Duo cried, thoroughly lost. Nobody answered him.  
  
'Ok… so he's hot and a little insane,' Ariana thought, the smile slowly draining from her face.  
  
"So do I get a turn?" Liz perked.  
  
"Um…" Duo scratched his head. "Ariana kind of already said something for you, but…"  
  
"NO! She does not get a turn!!" Ariana fumed.  
  
Quatre tried to reason that Liz hadn't gotten to speak for herself. Ariana fought back that she didn't deserve a turn. Duo just shrugged when they both turned to him for the rules.  
  
"Isn't this YOUR game, Maxwell!?!" Wufei growled at Duo's shrug of proper knowledge.  
  
Duo blanched, then shot back, "Uh, yea this is my game but that doesn't mean I know everything!"  
  
"IT SHOULD!" Wufei was more than a little upset he was forced to play such a ridiculous game.  
  
"FINE! Since this is MY game, I say Liz gets to take her turn and speak for herself!" Duo finished with a *hmph*. Ariana glared. Quatre beamed good- naturedly. Wufei scowled. Liz smiled.  
  
"Well I guess you kinda already know my name, but my word would be lithe."  
  
"GREAT! WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE USE SIMPLE ENGLISH!?!" Duo cried.  
  
"Not everyone speaks 'simpleton' like you, Duo." Heero growled.  
  
"WHAT!? I AM NOT A SIMPLETON!" Duo yelled back.  
  
"Well you definitely talk and act like one." Heero barked.  
  
"Wufei. Warrior." The Chinese boy added quickly.  
  
"WHAT!? WELL YOU SPEAK THE SAME WAY, MR. HACKER!!"  
  
"Well game's over. Bye." Wufei quickly got up and ran from the room. As he left, he shouted at the still fuming braided baka. "Shut up, Duo."  
  
"WAIT!! WUFEI!!" but Wufei was gone. Probably went off to meditate somewhere.  
  
Duo pouted. "But he didn't play!"  
  
"Uh, yea. His word was 'warrior'." Ariana pointed out.  
  
"But you were too busy screaming everyone deaf to have noticed." Heero grunted.  
  
"SHUT UP!"  
  
"You're one to talk."  
  
Duo and Heero promptly went into a glaring contest. It was scary how you could actually see the sparks in the air. Trowa stood up to leave.  
  
"Where are you going?" Quatre asked quietly.  
  
"To the gym." he shrugged.  
  
"OO! I'll go too!" Liz shot up out of her seat. Ariana rolled her eyes. Trowa blinked.  
  
"Oh, but I have to change first." She gave Quatre a questioning glance.  
  
"I told the servants to put your stuff in one of the second floor bed rooms. I think it's in the third room on the right, in the left corridor." Quatre smiled.  
  
"Thanks Quatre." she replied. "Ok. So lets go, Taciturn Trowa."  
  
Trowa just blinked at her again, and followed her out of the room. He ended up having to grab her and drag her in the direction of the stairs, since she was going to get lost again. As the two of them passed by the living room again, she sniffed, "Is something burning?"  
  
Both Quatre and Ariana paled, and ran out of the room in the direction of kitchen. 


	8. Choices viii

With the departure of basically half the group, the five remaining boys just looked at each other. Ken said he would go check on Omi, and Marron went after him in search of the garden. Aya just left, after glaring at the two pilots.  
  
Heero got up and said "I'm going to my room."  
  
"Hey Heero, don't you want to play Nintendo with me?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Aww, come on!"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why? Cuz you know I can beat you?"  
  
With that Heero whirled around, and Duo found himself face to face with an unsmiling Heero Yuy.  
  
"You're on." was all the perfect soldier said before grabbing a controller and turning on the TV.  
  
"YEA! You're on Heero Yuy!" Duo could barely contain his glee at being able to get the anti-social Wing pilot to play a frivolous game with him. Actually this was twice in one day. As they battled Duo chattered about why he chose his fighter and why Heero's was a really bad choice and so on, while Heero continued his silence, breaking it only to tell Duo to shut up, but Duo just ignored those comments. The two continued to play for the rest of the afternoon.  
  
Upstairs, Trowa waited outside her room, while Liz changed. When she emerged a few minutes later, he noted that it wasn't much of a change. She was wearing a pair of soft cotton track shorts and a long-sleeved boxing tee shirt. A long shot from her soccer shorts and gray jersey. She just smiled at him.  
  
"You're not going to change?" He blinked at her yet again. (I guess blinking is his way of showing surprise.) Then he shook his head.  
  
"Well good luck working out in jeans." was her only comment.  
  
As they walked down the stairs, Liz attempted to start a conversation.  
  
"So… where are you from?"  
  
She sighed, and figured he wasn't going to answer as they neared the gym. Surprisingly, he did.  
  
"Colony L3." he paused, "And you?"  
  
She smiled to herself, and continued the conversation. "I'm from California, originally, but now I live in the Sanc Kingdom with Ms. Relena."  
  
"Do you like it there?" Trowa asked, still facing forward.  
  
Liz looked at him for a moment. "Yea, taciturn was a good word for him." She thought.  
  
"Uh, yea. It's ok. Where do you live on L3?"  
  
"I travel with the circus."  
  
"WOW! Really!?!" She turned to him excitedly. He just nodded.  
  
They had finally reached the gym, and were heading inside. Once inside, Liz could barely contain herself. The large facility was an athlete or gymnast's dream. There were beams, bars, a trampoline and a large center spring floor for the gymnasts and for the other athletes series of weights, lifts, punching bags, a small boxing ring, and tons of other equipment. She walked to the center of the spring floor, and began a 10-minute routine of stretching out. She looked over to where Trowa still stood, looking like he was trying to decide what to do first. She waved at him to get his attention, and asked,  
  
"Aren't you going to stretch first?"  
  
He just shook his head and walked off toward the trampoline. She shrugged and continued her warm-up. After a few back-walk-overs and other various simple floor tricks, she headed for the bars. They were her second favorite apparatus, other than the beam. She smiled when she found a box of grips near the chalk bin. She hummed to herself, as she prepared the grips and chalked up. After awhile Trowa stopped his continuous trampoline act, to watch her. He had heard her mount the bars and was watching her flow from bar to bar with easy grace, first performing simple then harder and harder moves. When she finally dismounted, she turned to him and smiled.  
  
"Not bad for my first try." She breathed. He blinked at her again, and then turned to continue his trampoline act.  
  
She found that she really enjoyed workouts like this. Pushing herself to the maximum of her ability. So currently she was trying to catch her breath. She took off her grips, found a sink and cleaned off the chalk and sweat from her hands. For a while, Liz just sat on the floor and stretched her aching muscles. After applying a thin layer of chalk, she familiarized herself with the lowest balance beam. She kept it simple, nothing that required too much, since her adventure on the bars. First she just worked on her sense of the beam. She did the basic cartwheels, handstands, turns, and such. Then she moved to the mid-sized beam, of three beams, and practiced her mounts and dismounts.  
  
Trowa had been watching her for a while now. He didn't quite understand why he found her so fascinating. 'For someone who seems to fall a lot,' he reasoned. 'she looks like a natural.' Which was true, now as he watched her perform several different routines. She would finish one, then catch her breath, and begin another. 'She pushes herself hard.' he noted. With a long- sleeved black turtleneck, Trowa also noticed the temperature was getting higher, and his shirt was already slightly wet with perspiration. So he opted to take it off. Liz was in the middle of spin on the beam, a requirement of her varsity level 9 routine, when she noticed Trowa removing his shirt.  
  
That was when she fell off the beam.  
  
The uni-banged pilot looked up when he heard a thud, and ran over to the beam when he noticed Liz no longer occupied it. He knelt beside her and helped her sit up. After shaking her head trying to clear it, she looked up at Trowa's bare chest, blinked then blushed.  
  
"Are you ok?" Trowa asked, in monotone, of course.  
  
"Uh, yea." Liz mumbled. 'At least he hasn't taken his pants off…' she thought blushing even more.  
  
"…I think that would be a good idea."  
  
"WHAT!?!" Belatedly Liz realized he had been talking to her. If at all possible she turned an even darker shade of magenta. "Uh, yea." was her only response, to Trowa's arched eyebrow.  
  
She let him help her up, and lead her off to wherever he had thought they should go. 'Damn me…' she thought, rubbing the back of her head. 'Why don't I ever listen.' Trowa turned his head to give her a curious look. Liz blushed again. 


	9. Choices ix

When Ariana and Quatre reached the kitchen, there was smoke billowing out along the ceiling. A litany of "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" poured from Ariana's mouth, as the two of them ducked under the smoke to try and reach the oven. Quatre made Ariana stay by the sink, and ran over to turn off the stove. Neither could find the potholder anywhere to help rescue their precious pie. So all they could do was open all the windows and turn off the smoking oven. Fortunately the fire alarms never went off, dousing them in a cold torrent of water, but the head chef's alarm was definitely shrieking. Ariana was very close to decking him with a frying pan if he didn't stop whining about his magnificent kitchen being destroyed. Eventually he shut up, but only after most of the smoke had dissipated out the windows, blown by his incessant howls. Ariana looked around the room, still trying to locate a potholder, so her pie didn't just sit and smolder in the oven, when she noticed something curious on the counter.  
  
"Quatre?"  
  
"Uh, yea?" Quatre looked at her curiously, as he was attempting to calm the furious chef.  
  
Ariana lifted their pie, which was a nice golden flaky color, and gave him a 'what-just-happened?' look. Quatre just blinked at the pie.  
  
"But that's.. that's our pie."  
  
"Yea, the one that's supposed to be burnt to cinders in the oven right now."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"I took it out."  
  
"Huh?" both Quatre and Ariana turned to look at the newcomer. Quatre flushed.  
  
"Who are you? And please you can't smoke in my house."  
  
"Hmph, your oven just was."  
  
"Well, that was an unexplained accident."  
  
Ariana was just staring at the tall man with shoulder length brown hair, who was wearing a pair of sunglasses. She was trying to desperately calm herself, finding no reason for her absolute and utter fear of this man. 'Shut up, Ariana! First find out who he is before you run and hide under the bed.' But when he looked at her, all she wanted to do was crawl in some hole to hide. Unconsciously, she took a step behind Quatre to put him between her and the strange man. He just blinked at her when she stepped away from him. Quatre was trying to be firm but polite in his attempts to gain knowledge of the man's name.  
  
"Please, your name would be helpful."  
  
"Oh, right." The man put out his cigarette on the counter, much to the displeasure of the chef and Quatre. "My name is Yohji. I'm here with Omi."  
  
Quatre just sighed a soft "oh" before continuing, "Nice to meet you Yohji, my name would be Quatre Rebarbra Winner, and I am the owner of this house."  
  
"Yea nice to meet you too." Yohji gave Ariana a glance. "And what's your name little miss."  
  
Ariana blanched but somehow managed to talk, "Ariana."  
  
"Such a pretty name, Ariana." Yohji smiled. Ariana wanted her toothbrush. [1]  
  
Quatre interrupted the continuation of that conversation by talking to Yohji, who was now openly staring at Ariana.  
  
"So, you took out our pie?"  
  
"Ah, yea. The buzzer went off, so I took it out."  
  
"Oh, sorry I wasn't here to greet you properly, but how exactly did you get in the house?"  
  
"The butler."  
  
"The butler?"  
  
"Yea, the one with the toupee."  
  
"Oh." Quatre was trying to desperately think of which butler had a toupee. Ariana decided she really didn't like this dude, even though all she knew about him was his name and that he smoked. And that he was really tall. Quatre couldn't get off his politeness streak.  
  
"Sorry, but it seems that you have missed our small introduction ceremony."  
  
"You had an introduction ceremony!?" Yohji asked incredulously, his glasses falling down his nose at his surprise.  
  
Ariana giggled, remembering what had happened during the course of the "greeting ceremony". Yohji smiled at her, pushing his glasses up his nose. Ariana stopped giggling.  
  
"Well not really, we just talked and introduced ourselves." Quatre stated matter-o-factly. Ariana nodded.  
  
"No really." Yohji said, leaning himself against the counter.  
  
Everyone turned when Aya walked in. He just glared at everyone and walked over to the fridge. As he raided the refrigerator, Yohji started talking again.  
  
"So, Aya did you really sit and *chat* with these people?"  
  
Aya shot him a glare, and went back to finding food.  
  
"Hn."  
  
"As eloquent as usual." Yohji smirked. "And in the presence of our lady friend."  
  
Both Ariana and Quatre were startled by that comment, but this time Aya didn't even turn around.  
  
"Knock it off Yohji. She's too young." Yohji's eyebrow quirked, then he gave Ariana a curious glance.  
  
"So, how old are you exactly, sweetie-pie?"  
  
Ariana shuddered. "16"  
  
It was Yohji's turn to be startled.  
  
"No kidding?" Ariana's further blush confirmed it as true.  
  
"Damn, you're right, Aya. That is a little young for my wondrous 23 years."  
  
"Hn." Was Aya's only comment as he tried to drink some milk from the carton.  
  
That proved to be the last straw for the flustered chef, as he nearly screamed the house down trying to get them out of his kitchen.  
  
As the four of them raced to get out of the kitchen, they ran into Trowa and Liz returning from the gym. Yohji gave Liz a once over and was about to open his mouth to talk, when Aya stopped him.  
  
"No."  
  
"Huh? Oh. Damn. This one too?" Yohji didn't bother whispering to his companion. Aya just glared back at him.  
  
Liz gave Ariana a confused look, who just signaled 'don't ask' back. Then she signaled discreetly at Trowa questioningly. Liz just blushed and signaled back 'tell you later'. Both jumped when Trowa addressed them.  
  
"Care to share?"  
  
"Uh.. we have to go and change!" Ariana covered.  
  
"Yea! You know, me-all sweaty and Ari-all floury." Liz lied.  
  
"Yea! Got to go!" Ariana grabbed Liz's wrist and dragged her off toward the stairs.  
  
"Bye!" Liz yelled over her shoulder, right as she ran into Ken. Again.  
  
Ariana let out a huffy sigh as she helped untangle her friend from the heap on the floor. Once up, Liz let out a quick "Sorry Ken!" before taking off after Ariana, who had stalked away. Liz was worried that Ari was mad again, but it turned out that she had run away so she wouldn't laugh out loud at her friend's ability to crash and burn all the time. 


	10. Choices x

The pair of girls raced up the stairs and down the corridor. Slamming their door behind them, they leaned against it to catch their breaths. Shortly, afterward they exchanged glances and fell to the floor in a fit of giggles. Both stretched out on the floor, Ariana on her back and Liz lying on her stomach, and sighed as they calmed from their laughter.  
  
"So what was that all about?" Liz questioned Ariana.  
  
"I should ask you the same thing." Ariana shot back.  
  
"Hmph." was Liz's only reply.  
  
Ariana rolled to her feet and walked off toward the beds where their suitcases were located.  
  
"Hey! I get the shower first!" Liz called after her. "I beat you!"  
  
"Yea, I know." Ariana said, rummaging through her luggage. "I just really need to brush my teeth."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I'll tell you about it in the when you're in the shower."  
  
Liz pushed herself off the floor, ran into the bathroom, threw a towel by the shower, and hopped in. A moment later, her clothes flew up over the curtain, and landed on the floor with a soft plop. Ariana walked in as Liz started the water. She brought out her toothbrush, applied a large glob of toothpaste, and began vigorously brushing her teeth.  
  
"So what's with the toothbrush?" Liz called over the noise of the rushing water. "Oh wow! They have Herbal Essences!"  
  
Ariana rolled her eyes, and answered, "You know that guy, the new one, who was down stairs, right before we came up here?"  
  
Liz sounded an agreement, so Ariana continued.  
  
"Well, his name is Yohji. He smokes, is really tall, and gives me the creeps. I met him in the kitchen."  
  
"Why does he give you the creeps?"  
  
"I don't know really. He just does. And in the kitchen he was like hitting on me."  
  
"What!?"  
  
"Yea. But Aya came in and stopped him." Ariana reapplied more toothpaste, and went at it again.  
  
"So he knows Aya?"  
  
"Yea. He said he came with Omi. So that means he must know Aya, Marron, and Ken."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"So, yea. And he was going to hit on you, but Aya stopped him again."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Ariana paused from brushing her teeth. "So, what's with you and Trowa?"  
  
"Me and Trowa?" Liz asked shyly. She was so glad Ariana couldn't see her blush.  
  
"Yea, why didn't he have a shirt on?"  
  
Liz quickly turned off the rush of water, and groped for her towel. Finding it, she grabbed it and began hastily drying herself off. Meanwhile, Ariana was beginning another round of tooth brushing.  
  
"Liz?"  
  
"Yea, yea." Liz appeared from behind the curtain, wrapped in an over-sized towel, attempting to dry her hair.  
  
"Well?" Ariana spit out some mouthwash, and was about to put some more toothpaste on her toothbrush, when Liz grabbed the toothpaste and shoved her toward the shower. Ariana hmph'd and disappeared behind the curtain. A moment later she started her shower.  
  
"Liz." Ariana calmly stated. She was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to answer.  
  
"Um, I guess he got hot, so he took his shirt off."  
  
"He was getting hot?" Ariana teased.  
  
"For heaven's sake! We were working out, Ariana!" Liz shouted.  
  
Ariana laughed. She had definitely been expecting that from her boy- clueless friend.  
  
"You were *working out*?" Ariana continued jokingly.  
  
"Ariana..." Liz growled. She was blushing the color purple now.  
  
"Ah, yea. I got it. But it's still fun to tease you."  
  
"Hmph." Liz finished washing up, and walked out of the bathroom.  
  
Shortly, Ariana joined her in the bedroom, dressed similarly. Liz had already picked out another sporty outfit. Ariana pouted at her.  
  
"Oh, please. Why don't you give the sport shorts a rest."  
  
"Well, what do you propose I wear, oh great-fashion-queen." Liz snarled sarcastically.  
  
Ariana gave a small bow, "Why don't you try a pair of jeans and a cute shirt."  
  
"Why should I?" Liz retorted. She was a bit sour about Ari's teasing.  
  
"Well, you can help me pick out what I'm going to wear."  
  
"Fine." Not often did Ariana let anyone else decide what she should wear.  
  
Liz sat on the bed and combed her hair, as Ariana raided her suitcase.  
  
"Here! These jeans are somewhat normal. And you can wear this top over this one! Wah! You're going to look so cute!" Ariana bounced around. She liked playing dress up with Liz. Liz just sat there and tried to pout and roll her eyes at the same time.  
  
"Fine." She quickly changed into the jeans, white spaghetti-strap shirt, and plaid short-sleeved overshirt. She just blinked at herself in the mirror. Ariana stood behind her with a huge grin on her face, and a sign that read "Kawaii!". Liz sighed and grabbed a pair of Jack Percells from her suitcase.  
  
"So, what are you thinking of wearing, Ari?" She asked as she struggled on the bed to get her shoes on.  
  
Ariana bounced around and began throwing clothes out of her suitcase in random order.  
  
"I'm gonna wear this, this, this, and um.. these!"  
  
"Hey! What do I get to help with?!" Liz cried out, finally getting her shoes on.  
  
"Um, well…" Ariana had finished wrestling on her khakis and white shirt, and was putting on her boots. "Which color?" she asked holding up two red vests.  
  
Liz fell off the bed. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WHICH COLOR!? THEY'RE BOTH RED!!"  
  
Ariana tsked her from her seat on the bed. "One is apple red and the other is corvette red." She sighed. "You really should know these things, Liz."  
  
Liz rolled over on the floor. "Uh, how about corvette red."  
  
"Ok." Ariana began putting one vest back into her luggagecase.  
  
"Wait! How do I know you're wearing the corvette one!?" Liz bounced up off the floor, ready to fight for her choice, though she wasn't sure which one that was.  
  
"Don't be stupid. This one is obviously apple and this is corvette, Silly."  
  
Bouncing on the bed a few times, Liz had attempted a dramatic swoon. She just looked at the ceiling for a while, as Ariana began wandering around the room, putting things away and back in order. Liz rolled over onto her stomach, and watched Ariana put away their clothes in the drawers.  
  
"You know you really should be neater about your stuff, Liz."  
  
"I know." Liz sighed. "So, anyways Ari. We know you don't like Yohji, but what do you think of everyone else?"  
  
"OH! I was wondering how long it would take you to ask that!" Ariana beamed.  
  
"I didn't mean like that, Ari! I just-"  
  
"OK!! Let's start in the order, same as the Name Game." She bounced on the bed across from where Liz was sprawled.  
  
"Ariana, I don't think-" Liz began to protest.  
  
"So, who was first? Oh, yea! It was that cutie, Duo."  
  
"He seems way too hyper." Liz stated off-handedly. "Besides, he kind of looks like a girl."  
  
"WAH!?! He seems really nice, and funny. And hot!"  
  
"That doesn't mean he doesn't look like a girl. He has a braid, for god's sake."  
  
"Hey! You know I have a thing for guys with long, gorgeous hair!"  
  
"Oh. I almost forgot." Liz added sardonically. "So does that mean you like Marron?"  
  
"Mmmmmmmmm……"  
  
"Ari?"  
  
"YES OF COURSE I DO!"  
  
"oh."  
  
"He's just so gorgeous. I mean he's tall, has incredible hair, and dazzling dark blue eyes!! *blah blah blah blah blah*" Ariana had a starry look in her eyes.  
  
As tempting as it was to just let her continue, Liz interrupted.  
  
"So, continuing."  
  
"Oh, um right, we're kind of off track, eh?"  
  
"Yea."  
  
"Who's next… Oh! Quatre!"  
  
"Yea, you two seem kind of close."  
  
"Oh, he's cute I guess. But he seems like such a little kid. I don't know. I think I'd rather just be friends with him."  
  
"Not romantically interested, eh?" Liz smirked.  
  
"Just about as much as you and Heero." Ariana pouted. Liz blanched.  
  
"THAT GUY IS PSYCHO!"  
  
"Really? What happened between the two of you?"  
  
"He hit me!"  
  
"HE WHAT!? I'M GOING TO KILL THAT LITTLE ARROGANT PUNK!!" she screamed, as she jumped up from the bed with her fist raised in the air, as if calling for justice.  
  
"Uh, not like that, Ari. I kind of snuck up on him." Liz stated, paling a little, regretting she had brought that up.  
  
"THAT STILL GIVES HIM NO RIGHT TO-"  
  
"Ari! It was probably just a reaction. Besides it didn't hurt at all." Liz lied. She got really scared when Ariana went on raving fits like these.  
  
"At this rate, we'll never get through everyone in time for lunch." she attempted to reason. Ariana sat down with a *hmph*.  
  
"Fine. Who's next?"  
  
"Uh, after you came… Trowa." Liz blushed a little as she said his name.  
  
"Oooo! Trowa! You know he's really cute, and just your type." Ariana winked.  
  
"Ari! How would you know who my type is!?" Liz was blushing so bad, she had to hide her face in a pillow. "What makes you think I don't like Ken!?"  
  
"Wha!?" Ariana jumped when she heard her friends muffled comment. "You like Ken!?"  
  
Liz's head popped up, and she attempted to correct her loud mouth.  
  
"I, uh, well, um, no, I don't know, you, um, see… AH! I give up!" Liz plopped her face back into the pillow.  
  
"So, that means…?" Ariana really, really wanted to know.  
  
"I, uh, yea, maybe…" Liz stayed face down.  
  
"YES! YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!"  
  
"Ah, no."  
  
"ITS TIME FOR PLAN A!"  
  
"Plan A?" Liz watched as, Ariana began running around the room in excited circles.  
  
"PLAN A: CAPTURE KEN!" Liz sweatdropped.  
  
"Ano, I don't think-" Ariana began proudly prancing around even more.  
  
"Or maybe that should be Plan K, for Ken… hmmm…" Ari stopped to ponder this new element.  
  
"Ari, I really don't want to." Liz pleaded.  
  
"What! How could you not want to? This is the man of your dreams!"  
  
"WHO SAID HE WAS THE MAN OF MY DREAMS!?" Liz shouted angrily.  
  
"Ano, well maybe not of your dreams, but he's definitely your type!" Ariana gave a victory sign.  
  
"Hmph. Once again, how would you know?" Liz sulked.  
  
"I just know these things. Take it from me." Ariana beamed.  
  
"Great." Liz sighed. "So what about you?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I mean is there anyone else other than Marron and Duo that you have an eye for?"  
  
"Eh, maybe Aya.." Ari looked off, pondering.  
  
"Aya? He seems like the type who never smiles." Liz pouted again.  
  
"Hmph. I'll make him smile." Ariana retorted.  
  
"How?"  
  
"You'll see."  
  
"Betcha you can't."  
  
"Betcha I can."  
  
"You're on."  
  
"Yea, you too."  
  
The two shook on their newfound bet.  
  
"Eh, Ari?"  
  
"Yea."  
  
"What about warrior-boy, Wufei?"  
  
"Um, he seems more into you."  
  
"What!? Really… how can you tell?" Liz was dubious of that statement.  
  
"I just can." Ari's stomach growled. "I guess its about time we made our appearance."  
  
"Fine." Liz rolled off the bed, and headed for the door. She turned when she reached the door and realized her friend wasn't with her.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Just adding some perfume." Ariana stated squirting some of the smelly stuff on her neck and wrists. "Want some?"  
  
"No, what's the point?" Liz thought it smelled nice, but didn't like it anyway.  
  
"To make Aya smile."  
  
"Wha?" Liz was confused.  
  
"Oh, you have so much to learn." Ariana sighed, as she ushered Liz out the door. 


	11. Choices xi

When the two walked out into the hallway, they met up with Ken and Aya, who had just come out of the room they were sharing. Both had changed into more comfortable clothing. Ariana had currently placed herself between the two men, and not so subtly shoved Ken toward Liz. So, now it seemed as though the four of them were walking in pairs. Ariana began talking to Aya, attaching herself to his arm, not really caring if he was listening. As they walked down the stairs, Ariana threw a wink at Liz, who did a double take to catch it. Unfortunately, that took her concentration off the stairs and where she was walking. So, again, Liz took a tumble down off the last few steps, right on top of someone who had rounded the corner. Ken moved to catch her, but she was already in a heap on the floor, entangled. Both Ariana and Aya, blinked not quite certain how she ended up on the floor, because they hadn't seen her fall. Liz was trying to pick herself up, when an angry cry came from underneath her.  
  
"KISAMA WOMAN! DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO STAY ON YOUR FEET!?" Wufei screamed at her.  
  
"Uh, I'm-" Liz was stuttering out an apology when Ariana's voice broke through.  
  
"Jeez, Liz that's the WRONG ONE!" Ariana puffed. "Stick to the plan!"  
  
That just caused confusion by everyone, except Liz, who had blushed furiously and ended falling back down on Wufei in her embarrassment.  
  
Trowa gingerly picked Liz up off of Wufei, and was holding her in his arms, waiting for his fellow pilot to get off the floor. Quatre and Marron rushed down the stairs, after hearing Wufei's shout, and Duo and Heero emerged from the dining room. Ariana blinked at Liz and Trowa, not sure if she should be happy or not, seeing Trowa hold her across his chest. Then she smiled. 'The more the merrier,' she thought. She smiled even brighter when she noticed Ken did not look very happy. Her smile got even bigger, when Marron came to stand next to her.  
  
"What happened, little one?" Marron leaned in next to Ariana, who unconsciously began to let go of Aya's arm. Aya didn't seem to like that very much.  
  
Liz smiled at her friends unfolding situation. 'So maybe I'm not so clueless after all about guys.' Unfortunately, she failed to notice Wufei, until his bright red face popped up in front of hers. Stuttering an apology, only seemed to infuriate him even more.  
  
"KISAMA WOMAN! CAN'T YOU EVEN TALK CORRECTLY!?" he screamed at her again.  
  
Trowa let out a brisk, "Lay off, Wufei." before turning and carrying Liz into the dining room.  
  
Quatre looked worried, "Is everything alright?"  
  
"Does it look like it!?" Wufei snapped.  
  
"Trowa's right, cool it Wufei." Duo replied. "I'm going after them, to get some lunch, care to join us?" he called out as he turned and followed Trowa and Liz out of the hallway.  
  
Ken and Quatre walked off after them, Heero stayed to calm down Wufei.  
  
"Wufei, don't worry about it, she didn't mean anything by it." Heero stated matter-o-factly.  
  
"Hmph." was Wufei's only reply.  
  
"You're one to talk, Heero." Ariana snarled. "You were the one who hit her."  
  
Heero didn't seem to like that comment.  
  
"She snuck up on me, it was just a reaction."  
  
"Yea right." She retorted.  
  
"Shut up, I'm hungry." Wufei barked, and briskly turned toward the dining room.  
  
"You coming, Yuy?"  
  
"Yea." Heero glared at Ariana once more, before trailing Wufei.  
  
"You should learn to keep your mouth shut." Aya said accusingly.  
  
"I-wait! That's-" Ariana released her hold on his arm angrily.  
  
"It's nothing, little one." Marron interrupted, pulling her to look at him.  
  
"You were just trying to defend your friend." He said, caressing her cheek.  
  
Ariana blushed and nodded, staring into his deep blue eyes.  
  
Aya just grunted, and stalked off toward the where everyone else had disappeared. He grabbed the late Yohji, and dragged him with him.  
  
"Hey, Aya, man, where are we-" Yohji looked startled as he was pulled off by Aya.  
  
"Shut up." Was the only response Yohji got.  
  
Ariana watched Aya go, wondering how she had misinterpreted him.  
  
Marron whispered into her ear, "Don't worry, little one. He's always like that. Always temperamental."  
  
Ariana turned back toward him, and nodded slightly.  
  
"Shall we be off then?" He asked gently.  
  
All she could do was nod. He smiled as he led her down the remaining stairs, toward lunch. 


	12. Choices xii

As, Marron and Ariana walked into the lunchroom, they noticed there were no seats where the two could sit together. Ariana let out a small sigh of disappointment. Marron motioned to the seat between Aya and Duo. Ariana paled a little at the idea of sitting next to Aya. But he didn't even seem to notice when Marron pulled out her chair, and seated her in it. Then, Marron went across the table to sit between Wufei and Ken. From his seat, Marron looked directly at Aya and Yohji, who sat to Aya's left. Looking down the row, he noted that Duo sat between Ariana, who was on his left, and Heero, who was on his right at the end of the table. Next to Marron, on his left, was Ken, who sat next to Liz, with Trowa at the end of the table across from Heero. To his right, was Wufei, and Quatre assumed host position at the head of the table. Splayed out before them, was a large variety of foods, catering to everyone's tastes. Aya, Yohji, Wufei and Heero had fixed themselves with the typical bowl of rice and were eating mainly Asian foods. Quatre and Trowa both chewed on sandwiches and such, while Duo seemed to have a large mound of assorted foods on his plate. Surprisingly, the mound was almost gone, though Duo had just started. Liz and Ken stared at the boy across from them, engorging himself. It seems Duo didn't even bother chewing, he just shoveled food into his mouth, swallowed, and kept shoveling. Heero and Trowa didn't take much notice of the display of eating manners that situated their end of the table, as both efficiently and quietly ate their food. The two athletes of the pack, Liz and Ken had mainly taken fruits and vegetables to eat.  
  
Ariana smiled, and handed Marron a bowl of miso soup, as she noticed he hadn't taken any food for himself. He just smiled back, reaching for the bowl. As he took the bowl from her, his hand touched hers warmly. Taking the bowl was as much of a caress as his touch earlier. Ariana blushed a little. Surprisingly, so did Marron. Unfortunately, Ariana almost dropped the soup all across the table as Duo shouted noisily into her ear.  
  
"Yo, Ariana. Pass the mustard!" Duo spoke with food falling out of his mouth. Ariana gave him a disgusted but amused look. Before, she could reach the small jar of mustard, Aya picked it up and basically threw it at Duo. Not thinking much of it, Duo caught the flying projectile, and muttered his thanks. Aya and Marron had a glaring contest across the table. Liz didn't really like Aya all that much anymore. And was more and more scared for Ariana, since she was sitting next to him.  
  
"Here eat this." Liz was caught off-guard when Trowa pushed his fork in front of her mouth. She just blinked at him, not sure of what to do.  
  
"It will give you energy." was all he said.  
  
Not particularly thinking, Liz just opened her mouth, and took in Trowa's fork. Trowa's eyes widened a fraction, as he watched his fork disappear into her mouth. Ken watched, not pleased with the situation. Oblivious, Liz just smiled at Trowa and turned to continue eating her fruit. (She hadn't really taken any vegetables since she despises them.) Ken looked at the bowl in front of her and blinked.  
  
"What's that?" he questioned.  
  
"Huh?" Liz looked at him curiously.  
  
"You don't know what grapefruit is?" she asked unbelieving.  
  
Ken blushed, "That doesn't look much like a grape." he pointed out.  
  
Liz looked flustered, "Well, I guess not, but that's not why its called grapefruit."  
  
"Then why?"  
  
"Um, I don't know." Liz answered shyly, "It's good though."  
  
"Oh" was all Ken said before turning back to his plate.  
  
She smiled at him and offered the piece on her spoon, "Here, try some."  
  
Ken looked at her bashfully, and slowly took the spoon into his mouth.  
  
"Good?" she asked, still smiling.  
  
"Yea." Ken was blushing so bad, it should have been hard for Liz to be so ignorant. But alas, she still didn't get it.  
  
"Yo, can I try some?" Duo said, open the gaping hole that was his mouth at Liz. Liz looked down at her grapefruit, and was about to reach across the table, when Heero shoved his spoon in the braided baka's mouth.  
  
"ACK!" Duo began coughing and spit out the disgusting piece of brussel sprout that Heero had just shoved down his throat.  
  
"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME OR WHAT!?" Duo shouted after he had chugged down two whole sodas.  
  
"It wouldn't hurt to try eating vegetables every once in awhile, Duo." Heero stated calmly, still eating his tofu and rice.  
  
"KISAMA MAXWELL!!" everyone turned to a red-faced Wufei who had Duo's spit- covered brussel sprout stuck to his forehead.  
  
Duo began sputtering, but before anything coherent could come out, Wufei pushed back from the table, and stalked out of the room.  
  
"Shit!" Duo began to get up from the table to chase down the Chinese pilot and apologize, but Heero grabbed him and shoved him back into his seat.  
  
"Let him cool off." Heero growled.  
  
Duo sat back down but didn't seem too happy. Liz looked at Wufei's untouched lunch and his empty seat and sighed sadly. Then she turned back to her food, thought of something, and began eating with enthusiasm. Everyone else went back to their lunches with an ackward air floating around them. Nobody talked much, until, Liz pushed back from the table, and jumped up.  
  
"I'm done." she shouted excitedly. "May I be excused?"  
  
"Yea, sure." Quatre gave her a curious look.  
  
She asked where the kitchen was and left suddenly.  
  
Everyone turned to look at Ariana, who just sat there dumbfounded.  
  
"WHAT?!" she cried incredulously.  
  
"She's your friend." Duo pointed out.  
  
"SO!?" Ariana shouted back.  
  
"Is she normally like this?" Ken asked.  
  
"No. I don't know what's with her today." Ariana huffed, and returned to her soup. 


	13. Choices xiii

Liz, with the help of the kitchen servants, had found a tray and had gathered an assortment of Chinese foods on it. Carefully, she walked toward the staircase, but found herself somewhere else completely. She noticed a stair well, but it went down instead of up. Liz was about to pass that particular pathway, until she heard the faint strains of someone yelling loudly. Slowly, she descended the stairwell, trying to not spill anything or trip. Luckily, she made it to the bottom with out accident, but when she reached the door, she found her hands were full, and she had no way of opening it. Placing the tray on the ground next to the entrance, she timidly knocked on the door. When there was no answer, she opened it slightly, and peeked inside. It was like a huge garage. And there were five huge machines towering in hanger. She looked on in awe for a minute, until she noticed Wufei down the way. He was pacing back and forth in front of a huge, scary, green machine. Liz quietly opened the door enough to allow her passage with the tray. Once inside, she balanced herself and kicked the door shut. Walking loudly enough for him to notice and not freak out on her if he thought she was sneaking up on him. She didn't want that happening again.  
  
"Wufei?" Liz called out in warning.  
  
"WHAT?!" Wufei whirled around. He stared at her accusingly, "What do you want?" he growled.  
  
She smiled shyly and lifted the tray for him to see. "I brought your lunch."  
  
He just blinked at her. (Remember people, blinking is a sign of SURPRISE)  
  
Her smile faltered a little, but she tacked firmly back in place, gathering her courage.  
  
"You didn't eat much, and I thought you might be hungry." she said warmly.  
  
Wufei gave no reply, he just continued to stare at her, but now without the anger seething within his eyes.  
  
"You're Chinese, right?" she spoke softly, "I thought you might like these pork noodles and rice." Carefully, she bent to put the tray on the ground between them. But with her luck and coordination, she almost tipped the tray over onto the ground. Wufei had to reach out to help her keep the food from falling. Gently he set it on the ground, and sat down next to the tray.  
  
She smiled sadly at him. "Wufei, I'm really sorry about earlier. I'm such a klutz sometimes. And I know Duo is really sorry about what happened at lunch. He really didn't mean it. I'm sorry Wufei." He looked into her sincere eyes, and blushed.  
  
"Ah, its ok." His voice sounded small and a little lost. He didn't notice though. He was still looking into those glowing brown eyes.  
  
"So you forgive me?" the words came out slow and hesitantly.  
  
He nodded at her. She beamed at him.  
  
"Thanks Wufei. Eat up." She turned to leave, looking for the door.  
  
As she was leaving, Wufei heard her call out, "Warrior is a good word for you!"  
  
He smiled at himself, and began eating his lunch.  
  
  
  
Liz waltzed back into the dining room, looking incredibly happy. Everyone just stared at her. She blinked at them.  
  
"You guys are still eating?"  
  
"You've only been gone two minutes, stupid." Ariana retorted over a mouthful of cherries. Liz walked back over to her seat. As she walked around, Duo asked her curiously, "Where did you go?" he too had a mouthful of food.  
  
"My secret." Liz replied grinning.  
  
"Hmph." Ariana be-da'd her. Liz just be-da'd back, and began peeling a banana.  
  
"I thought you were done." snorted Heero. He received several glares, though Liz just shrugged, thoroughly enjoying herself. She starting eating her banana, bouncing to an invisible beat. Trowa watched her in amusement. As did everyone else. And, obviously, she utterly oblivious. When she did notice everyone's stares, she just smiled, and continued eating. Ariana was befuddled. She had no clue who this person was, and what had happened to her friend.  
  
"So is everyone ready for desert?" Quatre questioned laughingly, still watching Liz.  
  
All agreed, though Duo was the most enthusiastic.  
  
"I'll get the pie!" Liz proclaimed, jumping up from her seat. Once again, Liz took a tumble, this time backwards taking the chair with her. A small "ouch" sounded from the floor where Liz had fallen. Everyone began laughing (except those who don't laugh, they just tried not to). The poor girl's hands could be seen searching the edge of the table to bring herself up. Both Ken and Trowa took a hand and pulled her up. She blushed and smiled timidly, at everyone's amused faces.  
  
"Um, I'm not really all that hungry for pie." Everyone laughed again.  
  
Quatre chuckled, "Maybe Ariana and I should go get our pie."  
  
So both of them left, heading toward the kitchen for their pastry.  
  
Heero grunted, "Liz, can I talk to you?"  
  
"Uh, sure. I guess." Liz didn't seem to happy about the idea of being alone with him, but consented anyway because she saw no point in being rude. 


End file.
